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Glee Live! Review: Radio City Music Hall, New York City becomes a Gleek paradise

Have you found yourself singing Don’t Stop Believing at inappropriate times? Are you trying to convince eleven of your closest friends (and also strangers) to start a show choir? Did you know dolphins are just gay sharks?

You may be a Gleek.

Fans of Fox’s hit musical television show Glee may not be able to be at Regionals to see New Directions face Vocal Adrenaline in the show’s season finale, but they’ve been flocking to the cast’s four-city, 13-show tour. After performances in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Chicago, the tour concluded at Radio City Music Hall in New York City last weekend.

Yes, a national tour of a television show.

Just like the big Broadway dreams of the small-town kids in the fictional, high-school show choir, Glee has become something much larger than many people anticipated. Fox has already signed on for a third season of the series before the first season finale is scheduled to air June 8. The last two soundtracks – The Power of Madonna and Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers – have both taken the top spot on the Billboard top 200 album chart and music from the episodes consistently rack up iTunes downloads. This isn’t just another hour of primetime, it’s a phenomenon.

Tours for reality competition shows like American Idol and beloved tween series Hannah Montana stayed pretty close to basic concert structure. Could a scripted musical from the twisted mind of Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck) translate to a live show successfully?

Fifty-nine year-old Karen Szostkiewicz, a former teacher and self-professed Broadway lover from South Hadley, Mass. struggled to find the words to adequately describe her reaction to Friday’s show.

“It was just excellent,” she said. “So, so good.”

Szostkiewicz arrived from Mass. alone without a ticket to see the sold-out show in New York. She got lucky when some last-minute tickets became available just a few hours before doors opened and the throngs of fans rushed inside.

The elaborately staged spectacle included more than 20 live performances of the cover songs performed on the show by fictional glee club New Directions. Big group numbers, like their signature Don’t Stop Believing and Somebody To Love, were sprinkled among the evening’s solos. This pacing allowed for the multiple costume and set changes that pushed the show closer to a Las Vegas Cher concert than your typical arena rock show, pyrotechnics notwithstanding.

Most of the cast sounded just as good as on television. Amber Riley, who plays the sassy Mercedes Jones, started off the night on the softer side with so-so performances of Beautiful and The Boy Is Mine. She sounded lovely, but her voice seemed to lack the power fans have come to expect. She fared much better on Bust Your Windows. It was all diva as she climbed to the roof of an actual Escalade pushed onto stage and slid down the windshield without missing a beat.

Lea Michele, the most-seasoned stage actor of the bunch, sounded so perfect it almost felt wrong to share the same air with her. Whether she was dueting with Chris Colfer (Kurt) for show highlight Defying Gravity or racing through the crowd for Don’t Rain On My Parade, she somehow managed to outdo herself each time she appeared on stage. Her chic hairstyle and visible tattoos may have been authentic Lea, but her note-perfect display of talent was all Rachel.

There were also some pleasant surprises. Cory Monteith, who plays Finn Hudson, has been subjected to the most frequently noticeable autotune on cast recordings, but sounded pretty OK live. Not great, mind you, but definitely passable when he had the lead on songs like the mash-up of Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life and Usher’s Confessions. Evil cheerleader Santana, portrayed by Naya Rivera, showcased her formidable pipes on the breakdown of Bad Romance as the cast strutted around stage in full Gaga regalia. She even held her own trading runs with Riley.

Though the characters of Will Shuester (played by Matthew Morrison) and Sue Sylvester (brought to seething life by the fabulous Jane Lynch) were only shown on video during most of the tour, the New York audience was treated to a live cameo from both. Morrison, joined by Mark Salling (Puck) on guitar, sang a gorgeous rendition of Israel Kamakawiw’ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. You could almost feel the melted hearts oozing onto your shoes.

While there was no “plot” weaved through the performances, the actors did stay mostly in character. (For example, paraplegic Artie, played by non-disabled actor Kevin McHale, appeared only in his wheelchair.) The few times they broke the fourth wall only further endeared the cast to the crowd.

Lynch, a veteran character actor, could hardly maintain her Sue Sylvester snarl when she came out before the encore to bark, “Why are you people still here?” The cheers from the audience were apparently just too much to take.

The crowd also overwhelmed Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina). As she stepped forward to belt the end of True Colors, she began to cry. The crowd grew even louder. It’s unclear if they were cheering Ushkowitz as she marked a career milestone by nailing a solo at a sold-out performance at Radio City Music Hall, or if they were cheering to see Tina step into the spotlight.

To the Gleeks, it doesn’t really matter, as long as they can sing along.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..